Pages

04/01/2014

Sherlock The Empty Hearse

BBC1
01/01/14
Written by Mark Gatiss / Directed by Jeremy Lovering

Just how good is this? Two years after Sherlock faked his
own death and ignited a debate as to how he did it comes the revelation. We
knew, of course, that he wasn’t dead because we saw him at the end of the last
series but the question that has been debated right up until this episode was
broadcast is how they did it. By which I mean how did the character do it and
how did the television programme stage it? Brilliantly, both of these notions
are addressed in a script that may just be the best thing Mark Gatiss has ever
written and that’s saying something. Bristling with vigour, thrills and wit,
`The Empty Hearse` is a ceaseless joy to watch from start to finish as it
twists and turns through several developments. As for that explanation- well,
just for fun you get several options during the course of the episode until the
real one is revealed by Sherlock himself near the end. Or is it?

Actually, the way Sherlock cheated death was he can fly.

Very few television
dramas contain such detail, such skills in every second of their running time.
I’ve probably only scratched the surface of what’s in this episode but there is
already enough to make me think this will be a contender for the best episode
of any show this year. You have to be patient though because the style unfolds
amidst bursts of graphics and images and sometimes with dual scenes playing
out. Sometimes this is comedic – for example when Watson’s patient’s maladies
are interspersed with Sherlock’s theories. Sometimes it is very edge of seat exciting
such as Sherlock’s motorbike dash to save Watson who is trapped in a bonfire.
Gatiss has the confidence to sideline the antagonist’s plot to the second half
as he slowly reunites the returned Sherlock with a Watson who has moved on in
some respects – he’s about to propose to his girlfriend- but not in others. As ever the series’ love of dialogue and
language is to the fore (a simple play on the word `underground` delights) and
even the secondary characters add splashes of colour.
We find a Sherlock who is subtly changed from the previous two series. He’s
more mischievous now, more prone to play a sly trick than simply look
disdainfully down at other people. The sequence where he disguises himself as a
French waiter to re-introduce himself to John is worthy of any comedy series.
Right at the end too he pretends he can’t diffuse the bomb that will shortly
blow them both up just so he can get John to say something kind and then he
laughs at it! Before he would refuse to
really engage with people, now he seems to enjoy baiting them. He has become
that difficult proposition- the friend whose behaviour constantly frustrates
you but also attracts you at the same time.
The episode becomes partly a study of friendship and how it can be repaired.
Watson is stunned by his old friend’s return; not by how he achieved his disappearance
but rather why he didn’t forewarn him and doesn’t really know whether he is
pleased or not especially as it interrupts his personal life. I don’t think I’ve seen Martin Freeman act as
well as he does here. Gifted a multi layered arc through which Watson has to
journey he scores at every level and remains the audience’s touchstone. There
are moments where he does something small that speaks volumes and other times
when he is so broad it is bittersweet and wonderful. Benedict Cumberbatch has
added more variety to his already peerless Holmes, this new delight in wrong
footing people suits him well. There are also more of Sherlock’s blistering
deductive interludes which the actor has become so great at delivering.
Gatiss playfully approaches some of the theories viewers, critics and fans have
salivated over for the past two years in two sequences that incorporate the
main ones including the idea of the face mask and a funny moment with Derren
Brown! The `real` solution, assuming it is, turns out to be more about illusion
with road closures, lots of extras from the detective’s homeless network, crash
mats and strategically placed vehicles. Yet as you watch it you wonder whether
this is partly telling us how the television programme itself staged the stunt.
This blurring of the lines is always hovering on the sidelines of the series
but never more so than in this story.

BBC cuts meant the cast had to use torches to get back to their dressing rooms.

Of course it’s not all clever talk and trickery, there are plenty of visceral thrills to be seen. In fact the moment when Watson awakes trapped underneath a bonfifre is uncomfortable to watch because it is so convincingly rendered. There
are several excellent action scenes and a Guy Fawkes inspired plot seemingly
masterminded by a new villain whom we glimpse at the end. Anyone thinking that
without Andrew Scott’s inspired Moriaty the series would fall short can be
reassured it does not though Scott does get a couple of brief appearances one
of which seems to hint at some more lurid fan fiction! Supporting characters
have their moments to; Mark Gatiss himself delivers another impeccable
performance as the even less warm than his brother Mycroft while Una Stubbs
makes her brief appearances memorable with wonderful human reactions to all the
madness. Amanda Abbington’s Mary is a strong addition as John’s fiancée – in
just one sentence she nails all that we need to know about the character when
she tells a befuddled John “I like him” after her first encounter with
Sherlock. There’s a strong role too for Louise Brealey as Molly who gets to be
a sidekick for a day and demonstrates why Sherlock needs Watson.
`The Empty Hearse` is another triumph for a series that seems only able to
improve on near perfection as it develops. It’s become such a part of the TV
landscape you forget this is only the seventh (!) episode. Now, the bar has
just been raised again. Welcome back, Sherlock the man and the series!